Critics and media heap praise on ‘Between Two Rivers’ by Wolfson Honorary Fellow Dr Moudhy Al-Rashid

Last night, Wolfson hosted a book launch for Between Two Rivers, a new book by Wolfson Honorary Fellow, Dr Moudhy Al-Rashid, which tells the history of the very ancient past of Mesopotamia, the land between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris.

‘Thousands of years ago, in this vast region, people began writing things down for the very first time. What they left behind preserves leaps in human ingenuity, like the earliest depiction of a wheel and the first approximation of pi. But they also capture intimate, raw and relatable moments, like a dog’s paw prints as it accidentally stepped into fresh clay, or the imprint of a child’s teeth.

In Between Two Rivers, Dr Al-Rashid reveals what these ancient people chose to record about their lives, allowing us to brush hands with them millennia later: a lullaby to soothe a baby, instructions for exorcising a ghost, countless receipts for beer, and the adorable, messy writing of preschoolers. We meet an enslaved person negotiating their freedom, an astronomer tracing the movement of the planets, a princess who may have created the world’s first museum, and a working mother struggling with ‘the juggle’ in 1900 BCE.

Together, these fragments illuminate not just the history of Mesopotamia, but the story of how history was made.’ (pub. Hachette, 2025)

The book has made an impression with critics and media alike, with rave reviews across the media spectrum:

‘Fascinating and magnificent, beautifully written and explained: this book is a masterpiece.‘ George Monbiot

‘Between Two Rivers provides remarkable insights into ancient lives … even at a distance of nearly four millennia, it is impossible not be moved.’ Sunday Times

Supporting the release of her book, Moudhy has appeared on various radio shows and podcasts, including Radio 4’s Start The Week, BBC’s brilliant podcast ‘You’re Dead To Me‘ and the History Extra podcast.